The Wharf

by Carol Ericson

  “But you did.” He smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand, welcoming the pain. “The night before last and last night, too, you came on to me. You did it to get access to my room and this box.”

  He gave the box a vicious kick, and it flew in the air a foot before landing on its side, spilling its guts.

  He laughed and the sound grated against his throat. “You were sloppy. When you filched the photo from the box, you should’ve run into the hallway and buried it in the trash can by the elevator. Flushed it down the toilet. Ripped it into small pieces and swallowed it. Instead, you put it in your purse.”

  “I wanted to tell you about my mother, Ryan, because I’d changed my mind. I realized that your father wasn’t the Phone Book Killer.”

  “You wanted to tell me, so you stole the picture from the file and hid it in your purse? Uh-huh.”

  “I was going to tell you later.”

  He snorted. “You mean after you got me in bed a few more times and had me so crazy in lo...lust I wouldn’t care that you lied to me from the start?”

  She covered her face with both hands and her shoulders shook. He ground his back teeth as his natural instinct to comfort her flooded his chest.

  Her muffled words came out on a sob. “I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how. It seemed the damage had already been done.”

  “You’re right. You should’ve been straight with me from the beginning. You could’ve come to me with the truth. I would’ve understood.”

  She hopped up from the bed. “You never would’ve agreed to work with me, and I didn’t know you, didn’t know anything about you. You were the enemy. Do you know how many years the name Brody filled me with rage? I thought your father had killed my mother. Everything I read about the case pointed to him. I wanted to be the one to prove it once and for all and bring some peace to my mother and the other victims of the Phone Book Killer.”

  She folded her hands behind her back and leaned against the wall, looking small and defenseless in her pajamas and bedhead hair.

  She’d lost her mother as a child in the vilest way. The Phone Book Killer had turned her world upside down and decimated the only family she had. She must’ve been adopted soon after that and taken away from her home and everything she knew. No wonder she hated the name Brody.

  She must’ve read his softened expression because she stretched her hand out to him. “I’m so sorry, Ryan. I know now I never should’ve kept my identity a secret from you. And last night, the night before...there was no pretense. I could’ve found a million different ways to get into that box.”

  His jaw tensed. She’d crept around his room not once, but twice while he’d lain sleeping, naked, totally at her mercy in every way.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I need to be alone right now. This association, this project—it’s over.”

  She sagged against the wall.

  He turned his back on her. “If you need some kind of protection, I can call hotel security to check on you.”

  “I’m sure I’ll be fine in the hotel.”

  She moved stiffly toward the desk and grabbed her purse. She left the photo of her mother on the floor.

  When the door closed behind her, Ryan reached for the phone. He punched in the extension for the front desk and requested some security for Kacie’s room. He explained how she’d been the guest locked in the sauna earlier in the week. Still fearing some kind of legal action, the manager agreed readily.

  He swooped down and snatched up the photo. He fell across the bed on his back, holding the picture of Kacie’s mother in front of his face. She smiled at him with Kacie’s lips and reproached him with Kacie’s eyes.

  He tossed the picture onto the floor and rolled onto his stomach, scrunching a pillow into his face.

  His hand skimmed a bit of lacy material and he pulled it from under the pillow. Kacie’s silky thong tangled around his fingers, tying him up, binding her to him. He pressed it to his face and inhaled her scent.

  He might be mad as hell about her deception, but it didn’t make him want her any less.

  * * *

  THE TEARS BURNED hot trails down her face, stinging the abrasion on her cheek. On the floor of her hotel room, Kacie leaned her forehead on her knees, which were pulled to her chest, and her tears dripped off the end of her nose.

  As soon as she’d gained a measure of Ryan Brody, the man, she should’ve told him the truth. Even when she still believed Joseph Brody was the Phone Book Killer and her mother’s murderer, she should’ve come clean to Ryan. He might’ve ended the project then, but anything would’ve been better than the look on his face when he realized the truth. He actually believed she’d used him sexually to get to the folder in his room. She’d been speaking the truth, for once, when she’d told him that there were a million different ways she could’ve gotten her hands on her mother’s picture.

  She didn’t need to land him in bed to do that. She’d wanted to land him in bed. If he really thought she’d been faking it with him, he must think she deserved an Academy Award.

  She rubbed her hand beneath her runny nose and fell to her side. What did it matter now? She’d blown it. She’d blown the book. She’d blown any chance of discovering her mother’s real killer. She’d blown a budding relationship with a decent man.

  All because she hadn’t trusted that man with the truth. Mom, her adoptive mom, had told her she’d regret not learning to open up more. When her parents had first adopted her, they’d sent her to a child therapist. She’d attended almost a year’s worth of sessions before she began to feel comfortable with her new family. Then when she’d hit adolescence, her parents had sent her for another round of head shrinking when it became apparent she was playing fast and loose with the truth when she thought the truth would expose her to someone’s displeasure.

  Her therapist had diagnosed her with abandonment issues, and she’d been able to work through most of those feelings, but she’d never completely resolved them.

  Now it had cost her—big-time.

  She curled tighter into her fetal position and allowed the tears to flow unabated.

  Someone tapped on the door and she rolled to her back, her pulse jumping in her throat. Had Ryan forgiven her? Was he going to give her a second chance?

  She sprang to her feet and peered through the peephole. The disappointment at seeing a room-service waiter punched her in the gut.

  “I didn’t order any room service.”

  “I know, ma’am. Mr. Ryan Brody in room 582 ordered it for you.”

  “He did?” Her voice squeaked like a schoolgirl’s. He did care. Maybe he was coming up to join her now.

  She pulled open the door, smiling through her tears at the uniformed hotel employee in the hallway. A dark shape lunged from the side, and with a sickening thud, the waiter dropped to the ground.

  Kacie choked out a scream and took a backward step into the room. Then she felt a prick on the inside of her wrist and she descended into blackness.

  * * *

  RYAN PACED THE FLOOR, tapping his phone against his palm. Why wouldn’t Kacie be answering her hotel phone or her cell phone?

  When she’d left his room, she’d been shaken up—not even dressed.

  Once she was out of his sight, his worries began to build up. When the hospital called to tell him Cynthia Phelps was still in a coma, he couldn’t shake off his concerns, no matter how infuriated he was at Kacie. He’d decided to at least check in by phone.

  But she wouldn’t answer her phone. It would be one thing if she was just ignoring his number on her cell, but he’d called her from his room phone, too, just in case. And it was highly unlikely she’d ignore a call from a number she didn’t recognize. Not with her many true-crime contacts out there.

  He shoved his key card in his back pocket and headed for the door. He jogged down the steps of the stairwell to the next floor and pushed through the fire door.

  Adrenaline crashed through his body when he saw the crumple
d body of a waiter in front of Kacie’s hotel door.

  He ran to the young man’s inert form while digging his cell phone from his pocket. The kid had a lump the size of a melon on the side of his head and copious amounts of blood soaked the carpet beneath him.

  He shouted into the phone for the front desk to call 911 and be on the lookout for a woman in duress, possibly in the company of a man.

  He jumped to his feet and ran back to the stairwell. He wouldn’t have taken her down the elevator since it opened right onto the busy lobby. If he had a gun to Kacie’s back, he’d be taking a big risk going through the public place.

  He knew this stairwell led to a side door and an alley to the street. His legs pumped like pistons as he ran down the stairs, taking about three at a time.

  He heard a door slam below him and vaulted over the handrail, landing on the floor below. He started yelling, his shouts echoing in the stairwell. He needed to cause as much commotion as possible. It was still broad daylight.

  He kicked through the final door, which led to a short hallway and a glass security door to the street. He yanked that open and stumbled onto the sidewalk, blinking in the sunlight.

  The sight in front of him caused his heart to skip a bit. A man with a black stocking cap on his head was staggering down the alley, carrying Kacie’s limp form in his arms.

  Ryan shouted and sprinted toward him.

  The man hit the sidewalk and dropped Kacie. He ran into the street, dodging cars. Ryan reached Kacie, her body unconscious on the sidewalk. He hovered over her as he watched her abductor hop over a fence and dart between two buildings.

  He took a step into the street and Kacie moaned.

  He couldn’t leave her. He dropped to his knees and gathered her to his chest. “Kacie, Kacie.”

  He could hear the sirens arriving around the corner at the front of the hotel for the room-service waiter. He scooped up Kacie in his arms and carried her back through the side door of the hotel, past the stairwell and into the lobby.

  A woman gasped. “Is she okay?”

  “Not at all.” He yelled for the front-desk clerk, and a few minutes later one of the EMTs who’d arrived earlier returned to the lobby.

  “Was she hit on the head, too?” The EMT snapped on his gloves and lifted Kacie’s eyelid.

  “I don’t think so. I didn’t see any injuries on her body. Is the kid okay?”

  “He’ll be fine.” He touched the bruise on Kacie’s cheek. “What’s this?”

  “Air bag. We were in a car accident yesterday. She’s going to be all right, isn’t she?”

  “I think she was drugged. I called for another ambulance. We’re taking both of them in. Do you know what happened?”

  “From the looks of it, someone used the kid to get her to open her door and then snatched her. I caught the culprit on the sidewalk outside, but he dropped her and took off. I would’ve gone after him, but I couldn’t leave her unconscious on the sidewalk.”

  The man patted his shoulder. “Of course not.”

  An hour later, Ryan shifted in the plastic chair, stretching his legs in front of him. He jumped to his feet when the SFPD officer entered the room.

  “She’s okay?”

  “She’s gonna be fine.” Officer Schrader scratched his chin. “What is it with you, Brody? Small-town chief of police comes to the big city, and violence and mayhem follow.”

  “It’s this book, Schrader. It’s my father’s case. Someone doesn’t want it reopened.”

  “That’s what Sean thought, too. I don’t know what’s going on.”

  “Was Kacie able to give you a description of the man who abducted her?”

  “Nope. But the waiter said the man corralled the waiter from another floor, forced him at gunpoint to go to Ms. Manning’s room and stand at her door with his cart. When she saw he was hotel staff, she opened the door. The assailant, who was wearing a ski mask, hit the kid on the side of the head with the butt of his gun and injected Ms. Manning with a sedative. He then carried her down the stairwell.”

  “Did you check out the cars on that block? I’m sure he didn’t intend to carry an unconscious woman in pajamas through the streets of the city. He must’ve had a car waiting for him.”

  “We’re running them now. Did you get a look at him?”

  “He never turned around. He heard me yelling and dropped her. I could see the black cap on his head. He must’ve still had the ski mask over his face. He seemed to be moving slowly, having difficulty carrying Kacie.”

  The officer nodded. “Deadweight’s a bitch.”

  “Can I see her?”

  “Ask the doc, but I’m done questioning her for now.”

  He had no intention of checking with anyone. He had let Kacie down. He never should’ve allowed her to return to her room by herself, hotel security or no hotel security.

  He slipped through the automatically opening doors as two orderlies pushed a patient on a gurney through. He threaded his way through the emergency-treatment area, which was crammed with stretchers and harried doctors in white coats dashing from one curtained area to another.

  Ryan peeked behind each curtain, backing away from patients in varying degrees of discomfort.

  “Hey, you’re not supposed to be back here.” A nurse waved a pen at him.

  Flashing his badge, he said, “I’m looking for Kacie Manning.”

  She shrugged and squeezed past him.

  Behind the very next curtain, he found Kacie, her coppery hair gleaming against the white pillow and framing her white face.

  She turned a pair of saucer-round eyes on him.

  He grabbed a plastic chair by the side of her bed and straddled it. He took her limp, cold hand in his. “How are you feeling?”

  Her tongue darted out of her mouth. “How did you know something was wrong? How did you know he had me?”

  “I didn’t know until I saw the waiter knocked out in front of your door.”

  “What made you come?”

  “I felt uneasy.” He lifted his shoulders. “I’d called hotel security to do a few extra rounds past your room, but the hospital had just called me to report that Cookie was still unconscious, and it reminded me of the danger you still faced.”

  She curled her fingers around his hand. “Ryan, I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about my mother.”

  “Let’s leave that for now.” He squeezed her hand. “The cop told me you didn’t get a look at the man who abducted you. Ski mask?”

  “Yes.” With her free hand, she smoothed out the wrinkles on the sheet covering her stomach. “All I remember is his cold hand as he grabbed my arm and shoved a needle into it.”

  “You went out immediately?”

  “Yeah. I don’t remember a thing after that pinprick.”

  “He carried you down the stairwell and out the side door to the street. He was heading down the alley with you. I’m sure he had a car parked on the street. He couldn’t very well have carried you down the sidewalk.”

  “Are the police checking on that?”

  “They are now.”

  “He got away.”

  He released her hand and plowed his fingers through his hair. “I had a choice between leaving you unconscious on the sidewalk and going after him. I chose you.”

  “After what I did to you? If you had caught up with him, he could’ve given us answers.”

  “I wasn’t going to leave you lying on the sidewalk, unprotected. For all we know, he could’ve been working with an accomplice, and someone else could’ve snatched you.”

  She folded her arms across her chest and hunched her shoulders. “Why did he want to kidnap me? Why didn’t he just kill me in the hotel if he wants me to stop writing this book?”

  “I don’t know, Kacie. Maybe it was a warning. Maybe he was going to try to find out how much you knew first.” He scooted his chair closer. “Did you notice anything about his hands or body before he injected you?”

  She bit her lower lip. “He was covered from
head to toe in black. I didn’t see his hands. I just felt them on my skin.”

  “Was he tall? When I saw him, he was carrying you and running. He seemed to be struggling.”

  “I didn’t notice his height, but the struggling makes sense if he’s running with a woman in his arms.”

  “A young, fit man wouldn’t have been having the same issues.”

  “Are you trying to say he was old and unfit?”

  He sighed and slumped back in the chair. “Just grasping. It still doesn’t make any sense to me.”

  A nurse whipped back the curtain and smacked a clipboard against her hand. “Good news, Kacie. You’re out of here.”

  “Are you sure?” Ryan stood up and faced the nurse. “She was drugged and almost abducted.”

  “She didn’t have much of the drug in her system and we were able to flush out most of it. She might be a little groggy and she shouldn’t drive for a few hours, but she’s good to go.”

  Ryan rolled his eyes. “I’ll take her back to her hotel.”

  “I don’t have any clothes.” Kacie plucked at the paper gown covering her body.

  “You have what you came in wearing, right?” The nurse pointed to a plastic bag on a cart in the corner. “Your stuff’s in there, and we can give you some slippers.”

  “I was wearing pajamas.”

  “Hey, your pj’s cover more than what most people wear on the street these days. Nobody’s going to notice a thing.” She plucked up the plastic bag and dropped it on Kacie’s bed.

  “Do I need to sign any kind of release form?”

  “Right here.” The nurse tapped the clipboard and then handed it to Kacie. “We already got your insurance info, so you’re free to leave.”

  When she left, Ryan whistled. “This is another reason why I like Crestview. This place is an assembly line. I’ll turn around while you get dressed.”

  “Nothing you haven’t already seen, Brody.”

  And touched and tasted. He liked hearing that feisty tone back in her voice.

  “Along with no shoes, I don’t even have any underwear.”

  “I’m sorry. I should’ve thought to bring you some clothes when I grabbed your purse from your room.”